6 White Raleigh Cops Not Arrested but ‘On Leave’ After Murdering Darryl Tyree Williams. Cops Repeatedly Tased Black Man as He Told Them He Had Heart Problems. Used Deadly Force after Marijuana Stop

From [HERE] The Raleigh, N.C., police department placed six officers on administrative leave in connection with the January arrest of a Black man who died in police custody after officers used a Taser on him, according to a memo and body-camera footage released by the department.

Darryl Tyree Williams, 32 years old, was approached by police while in a parked car with a passenger late at night, according to a memo with a preliminary report of the incident written by Raleigh Police Chief Estella D. Patterson to Raleigh City Manager Marchell Adams-David that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Body-camera footage shows that while detained and scuffling with police, he told them he had heart problems. After officers used a Taser on him at least three times, he became unresponsive and was pronounced dead at a hospital later that night, according to the memo.

The Raleigh Police Department is conducting two investigations into the incident, one into the actions of officers involved in the arrest and another into Mr. Williams’s actions, according to the memo. Separately, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is conducting an independent criminal investigation and will present its findings to the Wake County district attorney, the memo said.

The incident and subsequent placement of officers on leave comes in the wake of the January death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, during an encounter with Memphis police after a traffic stop—a case that drew national attention. Five officers involved in that case were fired and charged with second-degree murder following an internal investigation.

In the incident involving Mr. Williams, Officers C.D. Robinson and J.T. Thomas were conducting “proactive patrols” of businesses a little before 2 a.m. on Jan. 17, according to the department memo. Officer Robinson approached a parked vehicle in which Mr. Williams occupied the driver’s seat, joined by a passenger beside him.

Officer Robinson said he observed marijuana and a container of alcohol in the car and asked the occupants to get out, as other officers approached to assist, according to the memo. With Mr. Williams standing outside the car, Officer Robinson searched him.

“We’re not doing nothing,” Mr. Williams said in the body-camera footage reviewed by the Journal.

“Keep both of your hands on the car,” Officer Robinson said in the body-camera footage. “If you can’t listen to my instructions, I’m going to put you in handcuffs. I’m not trying to put you in handcuffs.”

Shortly after, Officer Robinson pulled a folded dollar bill out of Mr. Williams’s pocket that contained a white powdery substance, visible on the body-camera video. Based on that finding, the officer decided to arrest him for possession of a controlled substance, the memo said.

“What’s going on?” Mr. Williams said in the footage. “Why?”

The scene then turned tense, as Officer Robinson told Mr. Williams to put his hands behind his back and other officers joined and sought to subdue him, the footage shows. They ordered him to get on the ground while they scuffled with him.

Officer Robinson then used a Taser on Mr. Williams, causing him to fall to the ground, the footage shows. Other officers ordered him to put his hands behind his back. Mr. Williams broke free and ran across a parking lot before falling to the ground again. Officers caught up to him and struggled with him as they sought to handcuff him.

Over the course of 50 seconds, officers used a Taser on Mr. Williams twice more in “drive stun mode,” meaning that the Taser was in direct contact with his body, according to the memo. One Taser made contact with Mr. Williams’s side, and the other with his back, the memo said. After the first one, Mr. Williams can be heard on the video saying, “I have heart problems.”

After officers handcuffed him, they called for emergency medical personnel, according to the memo. While they waited for responders to arrive, police observed that Mr. Williams was unresponsive, not breathing and without a pulse, the memo said. They performed CPR on him until first responders arrived and took over resuscitation efforts.

Mr. Williams was later taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3:01 a.m. The cause of death, including toxicology results, are part of continuing investigations, according to the memo.

A search of Mr. Williams’s car turned up two firearms, one of which had previously been reported stolen, as well as marijuana and suspected controlled substances, the memo said. Under department policy, Officers Robinson and Thomas as well as four others involved in the incident—D.L. Aquino, J.R. Scott, D.L. Grande and B.L. Ramge—were placed on administrative leave, according to the memo.

Emancipate NC, a nonprofit that advocates on criminal-justice issues and is advising Mr. Williams’s family, said the family was demanding justice, according to a statement by Dawn Blagrove, executive director of the group. The organization said the family and other activists were calling for the officers involved to be fired and for proactive patrols to end, among other measures.

“Now is the time for the city of Raleigh and all of America to reckon with the trauma and harm that policing causes to Black, Brown and marginalized communities,” the statement read.